Coronal Turbulence Driven from the Sun's Photosphere: Preparing for the Era of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

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One of the major unsolved problems in solar physics is the question regarding how the solar corona is heated to temperatures over a million degrees. One suspected mechanism is the conversion of magnetic field energy near the Sun's surface into heat energy through the dissipation of waves and turbulence. In this proposal, the PI will develop numerical models of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves and turbulence. These models will allow the PI to trace the dynamical evolution of these features as they travel outward from the surface of the Sun into the outer corona. The numerical simulations will make predictions that can be tested by high-resolution observations made by telescopes such as the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST). The proposed research will support the training of the next generation of solar scientists. The PI will involve a graduate student in the proposed work and also plans to incorporate the research into his undergraduate and graduate courses. In this proposal, the PI proposes to construct realistic, physics-based models of MHD fluctuations traveling from the Sun?s surface into the outer corona to shed light on the problem of coronal heating. With current observations, the dynamics of small, inter-granular, magnetic flux concentrations have been difficult, however, these structures form the seeds that eventually heat the corona to such high temperatures. The models that the PI will produce will be used to track the inter-granular magnetic flux elements and measure their evolution as they move outward into the corona. The models will then be used to generate observable diagnostics for telescopes like DKIST to test the MHD turbulence theory.